Florida EC Chair Calls for Some Wheels

Cheryl Forchilli, chair of the Florida Commission on Ethics (which deals with local government ethics), wrote a must-read op-ed piece that appeared on the Florida Thinks blog yesterday.

Forchilli's piece begins with a nice simile:

If a sports car barreling down the interstate at 120 miles an hour passes a Florida Highway Patrol officer, we expect that officer to flip on the lights, stop the speeder, and make our roads safer.

Wouldn’t the public be angry if the Legislature passed a law that forced the officer to stay parked by the side of the road, patiently waiting for a concerned citizen to pull up, sign a sworn statement describing the speeder’s actions, and ask the officer to please look into it?

Yet, that’s exactly how the Florida Commission on Ethics is forced to operate.

Forchilli calls for three ethics reforms, none of which is at all radical, but all of which, apparently, the state legislature has shown no willingness to adopt.

1. Commission-generated investigations
2. Increased fines (noting that the highest fines are reserved for the most egregious violations)
3. Including participation as part of recusal (that is, not just abstaining on votes), and prohibiting staff from participating on the official's behalf

The specific prohibition against staff participation is the only unusual reform, but an excellent idea.

Robert Wechsler
Director of Research-Retired, City Ethics

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